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Capcom’s Resident Evil 6 has plenty in common with your average summer movie, full of elaborate set pieces, Michael Bay style explosions and plenty of slimy monsters running amok. Throughout this seven-to-eight hour journey, you’ll ride a motorcycle, run away from a tank and slaughter an untold number of horrifying creatures hell bent on your demise. Plot? Who cares? Just continue squeezing the right trigger until your enemies explode into a bloody mess. Get caught up in the moment, and the game delivers enough over-the-top enjoyment to warrant a look, so long as you go in with lower expectations than with past installments in this sputtering franchise.

Previous Resident Evil adventures feature more methodical and isolated treks through zombie-filled environments, where the unexpected (dogs crashing through windows, for instance) gets you up off the couch. Here, and similar to Resident Evil 5, Capcom strays further away from survival horror and more towards action, with a much heavier focus on melee attacks; finally, the combat knife gets its due. Forget about running away from some rampaging beast, desperately clutching to a couple measly bullets. Instead, get ready for a shooting gallery, as the zombies flood into tight spaces and you mow them down with a variety of weapons. Even on Normal difficultly, you’ll struggle to run out of ammunition, unless you’re a terrible shot, of course.

Plot-wise, Resident Evil 6 largely deals with a new bio-terror incident threatening to destroy the world, and includes four mini adventures starring various characters from the series, along with a few newcomers. These roughly hour-long quests deliberately pair two heroes together for the sake of co-operative play, both online and off, though single-player fans can nix this feature altogether and opt to team up with the computer, which does a respectable job lending a much-needed assist. That said, old favorite Chris Redfield is accompanied by BSAA agent Piers Nivans, equally likeable Leon Kennedy battles zombies alongside Helena Harper, while son of Resident Evil villain Albert Wesker, Jake Muller, figures things out with Sherry Birkin, whose father played a role in the infamous Raccoon City incident chronicled in Resident Evil 1, 2 and 3; the final episode stars the mysterious Ada Wong.

To that end, each chapter features unique experiences, from Leon’s more traditional trek through a burning city (mostly on foot), to Redfield’s big-time set pieces featuring some of the most intimidating enemies we’ve seen from Resident Evil. Suffice to say, the game has variety.

As for the actual gameplay, prepare for quite the mixed bag. The aforementioned melee combat gives Resident Evil 6 a strange professional wrestling vibe, as characters pull off bulldog head smashes, DDTs and elbow drops. That’s respectable, however, compared to the cheap deaths Capcom forces players to suffer through, primarily the runaway vehicles that seemingly come out of nowhere, giving fans little to no time to react.

The biggest offender, though, are the numerous quick time sequences that task the player with quickly performing some bothersome action, lest he or she become a tasty snack for a zombie. These include twisting the left analog stick or quickly tapping a button while under heavy duress. Ultimately, it removes a person from that high level of immersion the Resident Evil series has called its trademark. It feels unnatural, and bothersome.

As for co-op play, the game does little to enhance this concept, instead focusing on having both people tap buttons to open heavy-looking doors, giving someone a boost or just having each other’s backs. Bottom line, we expected Capcom to take this one step further than it did with Resident Evil 5, and the publisher didn’t deliver.

There’s also a conspicuous absence of dread. Monsters will incapacitate characters, but stand around, refusing to inflict the deathblow. It’s also tough to get scared with a buddy at your side, which makes a case against the importance of co-op. And with so many weapons, who’s afraid of some 10-foot tall behemoth?

At the same time, and taking into account the summer movie comparison, Resident Evil 6 barely manages to satisfy. Capcom has clearly lost the handle on what made its cash cow so immersive, and for that, it’s sure to suffer at the hands of angry fans and critics. But considering the generous helping of action, monster bashing and other multiplayer modes, namely Mercenaries (where you seek to kill as many baddies as possible), RE6 still warrants a look, mostly as a rental. Just don’t expect for it to stay with you very long.